About

ASN Bank head office in The Hague. Photo: Google Earth/Streetview

ASN Bank is an independently operating bank that is part of the Volksbank N.V. It was founded in 1960. ASN Bank aims to be a leader in sustainable banking in the Netherlands. In its investment and lending decisions, the bank pays strong attention to issues around child labour, climate, human rights and genetic technology. In December 2016 ASN controlled assets worth EUR 13.6 billion.

Issues

ASN Bank and the Equator Principles

The Equator Principles are a voluntary commitment of banks to try to avoid or minimise the social, environmental and human rights impact of projects they finance. For more information on the Equator Principles see their website here and the campaign page of BankTrack here.

Equator Principles

Implementation and reporting

Contact and complaints

Good moves

2016

ASN Bank works towards living wage in the garment industry

In 2016 ASN Bank made a commitment to work towards realisation of a living wage among its investee companies, beginning with the garment industry. It has set itself the target: "all garment companies in the ASN Investment Universe to have introduced a living wage by 2030." This concerns the fourteen garment companies included in the ASN Investment Universe on 1 April 2016: Adidas, Amer Sports, ASICS, Asos, Esprit, Gap, Gildan Activewear, H&M, Inditex, KappAhl, Lojas Renner, Marks & Spencer, Nike and Puma. Find out more about their approach on their web page here.

2006

ASN Bank divests holdings in Veolia over Jerusalem Light Rail

Dutch bank ASN divested itself of its holdings in Veolia, the French company that was participating in building Jerusalem's light rail system, on the grounds that the project "is not in line with the United Nation's demand to stop all support for Israel's settlement activities." Read the news story in Haaretz.